UPTs COMMENTS ON UAPTs DECISION TO REJECT CONDITIONS FOR UNITING WITH UPTsKP
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAPTs) has always been interested not in uniting with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate (UPTsKP) as such, but in acquiring canonical status; however the Constantinople patriarchate has not promised that the new church union will be recognized by world Orthodoxy. This is the way the head of the UPTs Information Department, Bishop of Irpen Kliment, commented on the UAPTs decision about refusing the conditions for uniting with UPTsKP, the UPTs Center of Information reports.
"For twenty-three years, nobody has been preventing UAPTs and UPTsKP from uniting, and if they have not done this in the previous two decades, then it would be strange to expect that it will happen now. The reason that once again they have not managed to reach agreement, as far as is known from official sources, consists in the ultimatums from the Kiev patriarchate and Patriarch Filaret's fear of losing his primacy as the result of open elections of a leader of the new church union. UAPTs has always been interested in acquiring canonical status. Since the Constantinople patriarchate has not promised that the new church union will be recognized by world Orthodoxy, with unification, nothing has changed in the status of the UAPTs and UPTsKP," Bishop Kliment notes.
In his opinion, the Kiev patriarchate tried to force the Autocephalous Church to unite instead of seeking a compromise. "In addition, as the UAPTs stated, government structures have often put pressure on them so that the unification of these two churches would occur. But, as is known, the stronger the pressure from outside, the stronger the resistance," the church spokesperson emphasizes.
Bishop Kliment also recalled that UPTs is open for dialogue with the branches of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, on the basis of canons and ecclesiastical rules of world Orthdoxy. "It seems that UPTs has nothing to do with the negotiations between the UPTsKP and UAPTs. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, both in the person of the late Metropolitan Vladimir, and in the person of the current primate, Metropolitan Onufrey, has often said that it is open to dialogue among all branches of Orthodoxy in Ukraine on the basis of canons and ecclesiastical rules that exist in world Orthodoxy," the head of the UPTs Information Department says.
On 9 July, a council of the UAPTs rejected all suggestions from the UPTsKP regarding uniting into a single Orthodox church. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 July 2015)
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